Hans Backe looks at Real Salt Lake and sees a club that lost 22 games as an expansion franchise in 2005, captured MLS Cup just four years later and won 15 games each of the past two seasons.

His reasoning for their quick turnaround and run of sustained success?

“You can see Salt Lake is a team that has been playing together almost with the same players for three, four, five years,” the Red Bulls coach said. “They are very organized defending and in the attacking game.”

Stability like that is something the Red Bulls have never experienced, but as they prepare to take on Real Salt Lake tonight in Sandy, Utah, their fans can only wonder whether things might have turned out differently if management had been a little more patient with a core group from the nearly 250 players that have worn the kit since 1996.

“They are far ahead of us,” forward Thierry Henry said. “I have said it for a very long time. They are, if not close with L.A., the best team in this league by a distance. It’s not a coincidence we have not beaten them since I’ve been here. Not a lot of teams beat Salt Lake, especially at their place, so it’s going to be a very difficult task.”

The Red Bulls lost twice to Real Salt Lake in the preseason, both times failing to score a goal. In the season opener last week against FC Dallas, the Red Bulls made the same defensive mistakes that plagued them all season and gave away two goals in a 2-1 loss.

“Since I’ve been here, I don’t remember a lot of times Salt Lake giving goals away,” Henry said. “You can beat Salt Lake but you have to work really hard to beat them. They are not going to give anything.”

That is a tribute to Jason Kreis, RSL’s coach since midway through the 2007 season when he retired as a player to take the job. Kreis, an original member of Major League Soccer’s inaugural season in 1996, played for Dallas for nine years before becoming the Real Salt Lake’s first-ever player. He retired with 108 goals, fifth on the all-time list.

“They’re a great team. They have an excellent coach and he’s done an amazing job with them,” said Red Bulls forward Kenny Cooper, who played for FC Dallas from 2006 to ’09. “He’s someone I admire for what he’s done as a player. Growing up in Dallas and playing for FC Dallas, Jason is a legend at that club.

“He accomplished an incredible amount there as a player and quickly got into coaching and found success. He’s someone I really admire and respect. They’ve gotten off to a great start, going to L.A. and beating the defending champs (in their opening game).”

Cooper, who didn’t start last week but scored the Red Bulls’ goal as a second-half sub, is expected to start tonight with Juan Agudelo gone for a month with the Under-23 team for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying.